Resource Wars
Overview The Resource Wars were a series of large scale conflicts between the Earth's major nation-state powers. Although information surrounding these geopolitical events is limited, it is known that they began at some point in the late 2030s. The Resource Wars, as their implied name suggests, were a result of the depletion of the world's nourishment, hydration, energy, material, spacial, environmental, monetary, social, educational, and technological assets. A significant portion of these pressures came from the emergence of the Blight earlier in the decade. The ensuing 20 year conflict ended the progress and spirit civilization had developed through the modern era. Background Through advancements in technology the 21st Century began as a promising period for the future of humanity. Unfortunately by 2030 the human population had exceeded what the Earth was capable of sustaining. Coupled with the emergence of the Blight the world had an excess demand for a small supply of resources. Old grievances based on ideology justified nations both big and small to become openly hostile towards each other. By the end of the decade skirmishes and arguments transcended into blatant warfare. Order of Battle It is unknown what alliances and strategies were forged as countries fought viciously to obtain territory and resources from one another. Massive armies were organized to fight worldwide against the enemies of their respective homelands. Millions of soldiers and civilians were killed in destructive battles. More developed and wealthy nations such as the United States of America and the People's Republic of China sought tactical advantages in mechanized warfare. They drafted artificially intelligent robots to support soldiers on the battlefield. The U.S. Military proposed an orbital based weapons platform to deploy an assortment of conventional and WMD warheads against enemy ground targets. When the peaceful science focused National Aeronautics and Space Administration refused to design, construct, and launch this concept, the U.S. Government shut them down as punishment and to save funding for the war effort. While America was restrained from space based weapons, it is more than likely that the conflicts escalated into limited nuclear exchanges between some of the more desperate participants of the war. The Resource Wars likely surpassed the World Wars of the 20th Century and the Crusades/Mongol Conquests of the Middle Ages as the most destructive conflicts in human history, substantially reducing the human population, although not to the point of worldwide societal collapse. Homefront Throughout the conflict, the global situation remained bleak. The Blight continued to decimated the world's food production. Billions of people faced starvation and rioted when their governments and other institutions failed to alleviate their problems. Even wealthy countries like the United States were shuttered to the point of major athletic events being suppressed by the conflict. The war effort had become superior to culture and identity, despite attempting to maintain the way of life people had grown so used to. Peace Eventually, the Resource Wars began to dissipate. Constraints caused by global resource depletion, economic collapse, and environmental degradation prevented even the most powerful nations to continue warring. Around 2057, the world's leaders gathered to discuss peace. It was agreed that all countries would disband their militaries and shut down their defensive networks. For the United States, this meant eliminating the Marine Corps and NORAD as a sign of goodwill. All funding in these armed areas would be redirected to rebuilding the agricultural capacity to feed the few billion surviving global citizens of the Resource Wars. Countries would cooperate for the future and petty nationalism would be forgotten. Peace had finally come after two decades of the Resource Wars. However, some divisions remained, particularly between the U.S. and China. Both countries remained distrustful of each other and continued to compete via secretive interstellar space programs. Aftermath The Resource Wars exhausted much of the world's economic and technological prowess. Large stockpiles of military equipment were repurposed for improving civilian life; some simply went missing. Soldiers both human and mechanical suffered from PTSD and other ailments caused by trauma. Nations that had once sent explorers to the Moon were now struggling to feed their people. The Blight accelerated with changes to the climate brought upon by the environmental damage caused by the Wars. Highly educated, skillful, ambitious individuals were redirected to more humble, but valuable professions such as farming and teaching. All scientific efforts were refocused towards sustainability, ending innovation of new technologies, making the maintenance of old technologies impractical, and forcing people to make do with what little tech they had. Education discouraged the next generation of children from thinking about the grandiose, technocratic, consumer culture that had existed before the Wars. The United States went so far as to disclaim the accomplishment of landing on the Moon. It was envisioned that once the Blight passed and food resources had regenerated the World would be able to restart its industrialized society, albeit more responsibly and less aggressively. Belligerents * People's Republic of China * Republic of India * United States of America * United Kingdom (less united) * Many others Veterans * CASE (Support Dr9one, USMC) * Joseph Cooper (Test Pilot, NASA, Non-Com) * KIPP (Support Drone, USMC) * TARS (Support Drone, USMC) Category:Fan fiction